Attitude builds resiliency

There once was a man named Viktor Frankl, his name was taken away and replaced with the number 119,104.  Viktor was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during the second world war.  What is so special about this man is that he left us with this great message "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given circumstances."
This should be a sobering reality to a lot of us who have been to the point where we are complaining about the little petty things life throws are way.  In saying that, a trip to the Nazi's version of death row is nowhere near the level of receiving an unfair grade or being gossiped about by others.  What Frankl's view does leave us with is the ability to understand that no matter what circumstances comes our way we have a choice in how we view them.
Resiliency is one's ability to cope and deal with stress.  In understanding that hardships are a part of life and we can't avoid them, we have to now shift focus and control the only thing we can and that is how we view situations.  Is this an easy proposition, no but it is attainable.  Let us view Frankl mindset through shifting two letters and see if we can gain from it.  These two letters are "im" and "or".
The first of the two is "im" and when we place it after the four letters "vict" we allow ourselves to be in a position more likely to be invited to a pity party in our mind and soul.  Now let us replace "im" with "or" after the four letters "vict" and we see that its a celebration of how we choose to feel no matter what comes our way.  Being a victim is at times a lot easier but in the long run damaging because we are not building resiliency for future trials and tribulations.  Seeing ourselves in the role of the victor no matter what circumstances we face provides us with the knowledge that we have something that can never be taken away, our choice of attitude. 

Choose joy

There is a commercial that I've watched a couple of times during these NHL playoffs by Bud Light.  In this commercial it shows the difference between the guy who says "I'm in" and the guy who says "I'm out". Its obvious who the more responsible one is.  I'm not about to knock having fun but rather embracing responsibility.
The difference between fun and joy is simply this, fun is temporary and joy is everlasting.  Each step we take is a step towards the future and with these steps comes a responsibility for the direction we're heading.  While coming home at four in the morning after an intense night (sometimes) I'll admit is fun, but not so much if you have a seven o'clock shift the next day.  Being aware that we have sort of deceived ourselves into thinking that we can't have the same amount of fun at 11AM as we can at 11PM is where we get stuck.  This is where joy comes in, knowing that we don't have to wait for Friday night to experience the joy of fun.
Do you remember when we were children, say around seven years old?  How was it that we were able to experience such happiness without relying on a crazy night out partying and drinking.  It was because we were content to allow ourselves to enjoy every moment of the day.  What this Bud Light commercial fails to tell us is that "I'm in" is now 35 years old hanging out with a new generation of "I'm in" who are ten years younger.  Eventually the other "I'm ins" had the thought in there mind that the true fun in their life was waking up with their partner and planning a great day with their family because that is where the true fun is.
What I'm saying is that fun is being able to experience every moment of our lives knowing that eleven in the morning can provide as much fun as eleven at night if we allow ourselves to experience the joy of embracing life and responsibility.  Are you having fun? I am because saying "I'm out" has allowed me to have a fresh mind today without thinking wow that night was repetitive(possibly regretful), because we all know after awhile they are.  Let us encourage each other to choose joy because we all know that is where true fun stems from.

Love wins

 With or without Love which is better?  Before we answer that question we have to first acknowledge that the latter is easier.  This world has the ability to help abolish our true love through competition, greed, violence and the overall yearning for ourselves to be thought of in a sense of importance.  Honestly and truly we want to be viewed for all the "good" things we do. Is it a stretch to say that we need acknowledgement to continue to do the right things? 
 Underestimating the power that lies in unselfishness and the connection it has with the true love inside of us is a dangerous proposition.  True love is an act of complete giving of oneself over to the understanding of what we truly should be after, a clear conscience and a righteous conviction.  There has been moments in our life journey where we have recognized our selfishness and felt a tug of our heart saying you know what you should have done. Here is where our problem lies, the more we brush off the convictions of what we should have done or should be doing we are beginning to sweep love under the rug.  Without a clean room for love to reside it becomes lost in the shuffle of our everyday being.
  In philosophical context, love is a virtue "representing all" of human kindness, compassion, and affection.  When we choose love we do so with the understanding that we are not the primary benefactors but rather contributing to the betterment of all.  Buddhist belief states that "Love dispels hatred", we need to recognize whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or not a believer in any form of religion or God there is a way to contribute to the world we're living in and that is through unselfishly choosing love.  In a world where we are faced with poverty, natural disasters, sickness, greed, violence we still have a choice to choose love. Why would we decide to unselfishly choose love, because through all the rain and pain love wins!